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Concussions/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Moby is standing outdoors in front of a gazebo. A four-piece robot oom-pah band is playing. Moby is conducting the music with a baton. The voice of Tim can be heard in the background. The music fades, and Tim's voice becomes louder. TIM: Moby? Moby? Moby, are you okay? Moby opens his eyes. He has been unconscious. He is lying on his back in a skatepark, with Tim and the robots looking down at him. There is a skateboard on the concrete next to Moby. The robots are wearing helmets. MOBY: Beep. TIM: You know, you really should be wearing a helmet. Moby sits up and feels his forehead as mechanical owls circle his head. He looks dizzy. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, my friend banged her head during our last soccer game. She seemed fine, but had to miss the rest of the game. Why can't she play if she feels okay? From, Ronnie. Hey, Ronnie. Your coach was probably concerned that your friend had a concussion. Moby sits next to Tim, rubbing his head as Tim speaks. TIM: It's the most common type of head injury, and one of the most puzzling. Even though your brain's been injured, you can look and even feel okay. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Concussions usually result from a sudden blow to the head. An image shows an injured brain. TIM: Any kid who plays sports knows you can't always avoid being hit. Contact sports are especially dangerous. Images show young people playing soccer, baseball, football, and hockey. TIM: But concussions can happen any time you bump your head, or take a really bad spill. Images show a man falling from a ladder, a boy falling from a bike, a girl slipping on an icy sidewalk, and a skier landing face down in the snow. TIM: Car accidents… MOBY: Beep. TIM: Oom-pah band? Are you sure you're okay? MOBY: Beep. Moby makes a thumbs-up gesture. TIM: Right. Uh, where was I? Oh yeah, car accidents are another major cause of concussions. An image shows a car accident at an intersection. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Actually, you don't have to bang your head at all. With concussions, it's the shaking more than the impact that causes the harm. An animation shows a crash-test dummy behind the driver's seat of a moving car. The car stops suddenly, sending the seat-belted dummy forward, then backward. TIM: The whipping motion is too much for our delicate brains to handle. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, they're about as fragile as a bowl of jello. A robot spoons a cube of jello into Moby's mouth. Moby spits it out. TIM: That's why the brain has so much protection. It's surrounded by fluid and layers of protective membranes. This cushioning system in encased with hard bone, the cranium. An animation shows layers of fluid, membrane, and bone surrounding a human brain that looks like it's made of jello. MOBY: Beep. TIM: The cranium safeguards the brain against serious injury. But in a concussion, it's actually part of the problem. Any serious jolt can cause your brain to slam against it. It can even rock back and forth multiple times. The crash-test dummy collision is repeated. A side-view cross-section shows how a human brain can rock back and forth in a head-on crash. MOBY: Beep. TIM: There's actually little or no physical damage to your brain's nerve cells, or neurons. But when your brain sloshes around, those cells stretch and contort. The distorted neurons have trouble communicating properly. An animation shows a single neuron being jarred. An electrical impulse tries to move through the neuron, but buzzes and fades out. TIM: So your brain has a much harder time processing information. An illustration of the brain uses symbols to show the parts of the brain dedicated to processing speech, sight, touch, hearing, memory, and behavior/learning. These symbols are replaced with question marks. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, that's the scary part of a concussion. What might feel like a minor bump can still cause trouble. You may not have any cuts or bruises, and you don't always lose consciousness. In fact, kids rarely do. So concussions can easily go unnoticed. An animation shows two soccer players who have hit their heads and fallen. They help each other to their feet andwalk off, smiling. MOBY: Beep. TIM: They're not exactly invisible, but they don't always show up on imaging tests. MRIs and CT scans can only detect things like bleeding and swelling. An animation shows a technician examining a man’s brain. The patient is lying in an MRI machine while the technician studies the image of the brain on a computer. TIM: The only way to tell if you have a concussion is if you show any symptoms. MOBY: Beep. TIM: At first, you might feel confused and even have blurry or double vision. You may experience headaches, along with dizziness and nausea. An animation shows Moby experiencing the symptoms Tim describes. Images of each symptom pop up around Moby. TIM: Other symptoms don't show up immediately. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Problems with memory and concentration are common. You might also have trouble falling asleep or staying awake. Mood swings can also make you cranky or upset. Images pop up to represent these additional symptoms. Moby reacts to each new symptom as Tim describes it. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Sitting things out is the only way to heal a concussion. Those tweaked neurons just need time to work out the kinks. An animation shows a cartoon brain resting in a hammock on a desert island. The brain’s eyes open and close as it applies an ice-bag. TIM: That's why doctors recommend resting your body and mind. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, definitely no physical exertion whatsoever. No television, video games, no texting or tablets. An animation shows the cartoon brain in the hammock surrounded by pop-up images of the things Tim describes. Each image is crossed out. MOBY: Beep. TIM: You have to avoid taxing your brain in any way, Moby. That means no reading, homework, or tests, either. Images for these three things pop up around the hammock. Each image is crossed out. TIM: Doctors will keep a close eye on you until all your symptoms subside. An animation shows a doctor with a clipboard examining a girl in an examination room. TIM: The good news is that they usually fade away within a few weeks. An image shows a calendar page with three weeks marked off. TIM: That means your neurons are healed up and your brain is back to normal. The cartoon brain on the desert island jumps from its hammock and smiles. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Some people do experience post-concussive syndrome. That's when symptoms linger for months, or even years. An image shows a girl with a concussion, lying on a sofa and holding an ice-bag to her head. TIM: Unlike with the initial injury, rest doesn't seem to help. Images show the girl spending time on the sofa as it turns from summer to autumn. She doesn't get better. TIM: And if another concussion happens, the recovery is even longer. MOBY: Beep. TIM: That's the really mysterious thing about concussions. Once you have one, you're more susceptible to having another. And getting repeated concussions can be serious trouble. Researchers have linked it to severe depression and long-term memory loss. In some cases, it can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. A series of images shows a collision between two football players, a football player being taken from the field on a stretcher, another collision and a player on a stretcher, and a football player talking to his doctor. MOBY: Beep. TIM: CTE causes brains to shrink, lose weight, and basically wither away. An animation shows an affected brain as Tim describes. TIM: These discoveries have rocked the sports world, especially football. All-stars are now quitting the game out of concern for their health. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, it's hard to avoid collisions when it's your job to smash into people. That's why coaches are teaching kids new ways to play certain sports, like head's-up tackling in football. An image shows a coach teaching a football team head's-up tackling. TIM: And injured players have to pass rigorous tests before they can return to action. An animation shows a sports doctor administering a hand-eye coordination test to a football player. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right. Concussions don't just happen on the field. Tim puts a safety helmet on Moby's head. TIM: That's why safety gear is a must, even if you're just messing around. Tim taps Moby gently on his helmeted head. Moby hears oom-pah music and sees a mechanical owl land on his shoulder. MECHANICAL OWL: Tweet. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Golden owl? MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right. We're taking you home. Moby hears the oom-pah music again. He looks dazed. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Health Transcripts